And thanks to the rest of you for pointing out what not to do! I am a stickler for grammar and proper use of language myself, but my pet peeves are all to do with Norwegian and wouldn't mean much to you

closet jemainiac wrote:A close friend of mine used the word supposibly the other day. I was in such shock (cause she is otherwise a very intelligent woman) I just let it go but im sure I looked like this---->

I had to use all my strength to not laugh at people who would ask for the distemperment vaccine for their dog and then ask if it helps with improve their behavior.

Wow. You just cannot make this stuff up, can you?

I had one employee that used the word ideal in place of idea (both singular and plural forms). At first I thought maybe she did not know when to use "ideal" or "ideally" but then I heard her say something about how meeting guys is so hard and her ideal would be a guy that would take care of her and still let her be independent. Let us not get too sidetracked by that part of the conversation...

Anyhow, that showed me she had some idea of what an "ideal" situation would be yet she would still say things like "I had an ideal about how we could organize the cabinets." or "little kids come up with the cutest ideals!" Blew me away considering she was constantly reminding everyone she had 2 bachelor's degrees (one of which was for teaching high school-yikes!) and is completing nursing school so she is VERY educated. Um, okay. Still don't know how to use the word "ideal" though.

I can speak and write in French and English, and I can stumble along speaking Italian. But I probably spoke and read more Italian when I was five. I so wish my parents still spoke it regularly because I would love my daughter to learn. But alas.

On the topic of bilingualism, I am amazed and how my daughter picked up French when she started school. We never really bothered teaching her much before school because we knew we'd be sending her to school in French immersion. But I was still nervous when I found out they would be spoken to almost exclusively in French, and some of her classmates barely spoke English. And she refused to say anything at home. But sure enough, come spring when the unilingual French girl from across the street came out to play, there was my daughter completely fluent. Her parents were shocked, and so was I!

The question is, will it last. I did my primary schooling in French but pretty much always spoke English at home. I switched to English as of high school (a.k.a. junior high) and stayed with it for the rest of my schooling. I hardly used French for anything more than day-to-day stuff. Eventually I got a job where I was surrounded by French and a lot of it came streaming back. It's gratifying to know that a lot of the grammar rules stayed. But unfortunately my business vocab still sucks!

i may be a little late to the party here.. but would anyone care to tell me what's wrong with ending a sentence with "and whatnot"? i guess i've seen it/heard it so many times that i just assumed it was common language.

My pet peeves are summed up here. Some of these i don't get how anyone who has English as their first language can get wrong.. like your/you're ..their/they're/there ...weird/wierd...it's/its.. and whatnot

and one last thing.. Biscuit [Happy Birthday!] i think it's an excellent idea that you're trying to make your kids bilingual. I'm bilingual [catalan and spanish] ..and i think it opens your mind towards learning new languages and different ways of saying what you want to say.

But if you did I'd hold you tight / Into every single nightAnd we'd fall asleep together / And we'd wake up in the sunlightWell, maybe I'm a dreamer / But maybe one day you'll see / That dreams are...